The Keeper of Secrets
by Fictional Fireworks
Summary: The Keeper is the last of the Time Lords, but when she gets some interesting information from a spunky blond 1930's New Yorker named Tallulah, will she be able to find the so called, "Doctor?" Will there friendship turn into something more?
1. Freddy

"Freddy," The Keeper whispered. "What?" Freddy answered. "When I say run, run as fast as you possibly can until we get away from them, ok? As soon as we get back to where we buried the vortex manipulators, dig yours up and transport directly to the hotel room in Cardiff. I'll be right behind you, and I suppose there is no hope of you actually running to safety is there?" she asked. "Nope," he said.

They were crouched in a dark closet in a 1930's Hooverville, right outside the Empire State Building. The Keeper was the last of the Time Lords. There had been a terrible war on her home planet, Gallifray, and as soon as it started, she ran away. She could tell how this would turn out. The Daleks and the Time Lords hated each other, they always had, and neither of them would ever surrender. The whole planet would end up in a Time Lock. So once she invented and built the Vortex Manipulator, she ran to a distant planet called Earth, but she wouldn't stay there; no. She would travel the stars, and live out a new adventure each day.

It was fun at first, but she quickly realized how lonely she was. She was literally the only Time Lord in the universe. She decided to take a companion with her on her adventures, so at least she'd have a friend, but she was still the last of her kind, and as the years went by, her friends left her for a normal life, or grew old, or…. A couple even died. Now, though, she had Freddy, and she didn't think he was going anywhere anytime soon. She and Freddy were best friends, and had been for years and years. If she lost Freddy, she didn't know what she'd do.

The Cybermen were getting closer now. Freddy got up and aimed his gun at the nearest Cyberman. "Freddy! Put that down right now. You know how I feel about guns!" she reprimanded. "What other choice do we have?" he yelled back. "Just put it up!" The Keeper screamed. Freddy put up his gun. The Cybermen were upon them now. "Freddy! Please run!" she begged. He answered quickly, "No! I'm not leaving you!" So persistent. "I don't think you understand Freddy. I HAVE NO PLAN!" "Wait, what? You always have a plan! You don't have a plan? You're kidding me." The Cyberman spoke, "Human life form detected. You will be deleted." "Oh my God, Keeper, what do we do?" Freddy pleaded. "Run! Get to the manipulators!"

Freddy took off, with The Keeper on his tail. He only got to the next tree before the Cybermen caught up to him. "You will be deleted," came the emotionless voice once more. Before she could do anything, she saw the light flash, right towards Freddy. She heard his body slam into the ground, with all the force of a dead man. "Freddy!" she screamed, as she ran to him. No, not another one. The Cybermen were threatening to delete her, but she didn't even care. She sank to the ground and let out an bone chilling sob. He had been her best friend. Her only friend, and she had just let him die. The Cybermen were standing over her, arms raised to kill her, when there was an uncomfortably bright flash, and when she regained her vision, she saw that every single one of the Cybermen had dropped to the ground, dead.

"Well, that was unpleasant," she heard from behind her. The voice was female, with a New York accent, and when she turned around, she saw a thin blond woman wearing a trench coat and holding the biggest gun she had ever seen. "Who are you?" The Keeper asked between sobs. She answered with sass in her voice and a smile on her face, "Tallulah, the Ls and an H. You must be a friend of the Doctor's."


	2. Tallulah

"Who's the Doctor? And besides that, why did you just kill every single one of them?" she yelled. "I killed them, because they were about to kill you! Besides, they were all dead already. Having no emotions must suck. As for the Doctor, he's an old friend of mine. He always attracted weird alien stuff like these." She nudged a dead Cyberman with her foot. "He told me he was an alien. You're not an alien, too, are you?" came her answer. The Keeper needed answers about this man. Now. "This Doctor, did he look human?" she asked. "Yes, he looked just like a human. Puffy hair, long brown coat." She knew not to trust any information about his appearance; it could change at any given moment, you know, if it had to. Then again, he might not be a Time Lord. She decided right then and there that she would find him, no matter what it took.

The Keeper figured the best place to start would be the Torchwood Institute. They were bound to know something about him. She assumed they knew about her, as well, although she was immaculately careful about not leaving any tracks.

As she approached Torchwood, she pulled out her sonic screwdriver, and unlocked a back door. Thankfully, it was made of iron, not wood. She crept as quietly as possible through the building until she found the file room. She searched slowly the dark, musty room. Turning the lights on could've arisen suspicion, so she left them off. Finally, after ten minutes of incessant searching, she found a thick, very thick file labeled, "The Doctor."

Blowing on it to get some of the dust off, The Keeper opened the file and read the following: "Last seen: Battle of Canary Wharf." Canary Wharf. That was when the Daleks and Cybermen went to war. No help at all. The next thing she saw was: "Supposed owner of last known TARDIS." He had a TARDIS! That made things so much easier! She was a Time Lord after all. She could sense disruptions in time. She closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and listened for the disruptions.

There it was. She felt it. She stood up slowly, opened her eyes, and lifted her wrist. Into her vortex manipulator, she typed in the coordinates for Victorian London.


	3. Meeting the Doctor

It was 1846; she could feel it. Right smack in the middle of Victorian London. It was snowing, and it looked like Christmas was either here, or right around the corner. There were wreaths hung on doors, Christmas trees in front yards, and candles in windows. She was standing in a clearing with a lone tree, surrounded by an iron fence and some sparsely decorated houses. She heard footsteps, so she hid behind the nearest tree. As she watched, a man came along and pulled a ladder out of the sky, seemingly from nowhere, and began to climb it. That was him; she could feel it. That was the Doctor.

She crept forward slowly, until she reached the spot where the ladder was. She was too short to reach up and grab it, so she had to jump, but she eventually got it. Quietly, she climbed up the ladder after him, deciding it was best to lay low for a bit.

It was an extremely tall spiral staircase, seemingly attached to nothing. Finally, she could see what lay at the top of the staircase. It was a TARDIS. A real TARDIS. God, she hadn't seen one in so long. The Doctor stepped inside, and before he closed the door she slipped in after him. He still hadn't seen her. "Ahem," she coughed, trying to get his attention.

He turned, and finally he saw her. "Who the heck are you?" he asked loudly. "How did you get in here?" "Doctor, calm down," she answered. "Trust me." "How do you know my name? Why should I trust you?" She did her best to answer all of his questions. "My name is the Keeper. I slipped in before you closed the door. I found out about you from Tallulah. You should trust me, because I understand." "Ok, well then. Hello, I'm the Doctor. I remember Tallulah, lovely woman. Understand what?" he asked. "I understand what it feels like to be completely and utterly alone, with nobody in the universe just like you. We don't have to be alone anymore, Doctor. Take my pulse," she held out her wrist. Hesitantly, the Doctor walked towards her, and took her pulse.

It was not a human pulse. Her pulse was different; four shout pounds, like a drumbeat. Time Lord. She was a Time Lord. "Oh my God," he said. A Time Lord! You're a Time Lord! How did you get out of the time lock? Are there others?" he asked in quick succession. "Yes, I'm a Time Lord. I was never in the time lock. I escaped as soon as the war began. There aren't any others; just me. Just a lonely little Time Lord, with nobody like myself. Until now."

"No, this is the best day ever!" he screamed. "I know! I've always been so lonely, but now I'm not!" came her equally excited squeal. "How have you been travelling? Do you have a TARDIS, too?" he asked, really excited now. He started running and jumping around, fiddling with controls. "No, I've been using a cortex manipulator. Really crappy, actually. I hate that thing." "Oh good!" came his answer. "Come with me! We'll travel together! We can see the stars! Please?" he asked. "Of course!" she said. "I'd do anything for a friend and a TARDIS!" "Oh, brilliant! We are gonna have the best of times! Why don't you go find your room? The TARDIS will keep it close to the console room for you, and you should be able to find some clothes in the dresser."

So she went off to find her room, but not change clothes, because she always the same dress in different colors, plus her multiple accessories. She had found the Doctor, and they were going to have so many adventures. Later that night, she went to bed with a smile on her face. This, is going to be great.


	4. The First Morning

The next morning, the Doctor awoke with a start. He was just about to start another day of sulking, when he remembered: he wasn't alone! He got up quickly, and got dressed in a flourish. Happily, he went to the kitchen to heat up some Pop-Tarts. "Keeper, get up! We have adventuring to do!" he called. She swept in with a quick, "Hello, Doctor." "Well, that was fast. You didn't evolve to have super speed, did you?" said the Doctor. She laughed. "Of course not, silly man. I was already up."

She wore an outfit very similar to the one she wore yesterday. The dress was even the same print, though a different color. It was a white sundress, with a large floral pattern, red this time. Over it, she had on a black blazer that fit her nicely, a silver scarf, and to top it all off, a pair of simple black heels. He had to admit, she was attractive. Her long, light brown, curly hair created a complex frame for her round and freckled face.

She squinted her eyes at him. "What is _that?"_ she asked. "What is what?" he replied, obviously confused. "_That!"_ she exclaimed and wiggled his bow tie. "Are you trying to send some kind of message?" "No, it's a bow tie. Bow ties are cool. Pop-Tart?" he asked, handing her a Pop-Tart on a plate. She decided to drop the issue for now, and took the Pop-Tart with a simple, "Thanks."

"So," the Doctor began. "Where should we go today? I can't imagine it was easy getting around with just a vortex manipulator." "Oh, trust me it wasn't. And you know what I think? I think we need to get to know each other a little better. I suggest we go somewhere where we can just sit or take a walk, and talk, so I can actually gat a sense of who the heck you are, and vice versa. Somewhere like Appalappachia, pre-plague, of course. I don't want either of us dying." "Right yes, I've made the Apalapucia-during-plague mistake before… dreadful." He shivered, obviously traumatized, before he continued. "Apalapucia sounds wonderful! Especially considering I have no idea who you are. Let's go!"

"Do you want to help fly the Sexy? I hate flying her alone," the Doctor stated. "What? Who's Sexy?" asked the Keeper. She was visibly confused. "That's my TARDIS. Her real name is 700 years, but I like Sexy better," he stated. She laughed. "Me too. Sure I'll help. I haven't flown one in so long." And so for the next minute or so, they bounced around the TARDIS in comfortable silence, playing with buttons. The only sound came when she reached for the stabilizers, and the Doctor screamed, "No! I forgot to tell you. The only rule for flying Sexy, is that you can't use the stabilizers. Stabilizers are boring! Don't turn off the brakes, either. I like the sound." "Agreed," she said with a smile. I hate boring TARDIS rides."

She pushed open the door, cheerfully greeted by sunsets, spires, and soaring silver colonnades. She burst out of the TARDIS with enough energy to pull a freight train, the Doctor close behind. As they began to walk down a secluded path, the pair began their introductory conversation. There was obviously much to be revealed. The Keeper just hoped that she wouldn't end up hating him.


	5. Someday

"So," he said. "I'll go first. You call yourself the Keeper, but… the Keeper of what? You know like, I'm the Doctor of broken situations." Apalapucia was beautiful. They'd both been here before, but it was such a peaceful place. "Secrets," she finally said. "The Keeper of Secrets. My entire existence is a secret, save for Torchwood, and now you. Ok, my turn. How old are you, and what regeneration are you on?" "Hey, that's two questions!" he pouted. "Oh, come on. At least they're related!" She tried to keep a serious face, but she couldn't, due to the hilariousness of the Doctor's pouty face. Once she started laughing, he started laughing, and they walked down the trail, laughing, and looking like complete idiots. Once they managed to get control of themselves, he said, "I'm 1,007; on my eleventh regeneration. You?"

The Keeper was strangely delighted that they were near the same age. "I'm 999. My 1,000th birthday is this month. I'm on my sixth regeneration." The Doctor replied, "This month? We should have a party! I have no idea who we'd invite, but we could have a little personal party, just you and me. Sound fun? We can decorate the TARDIS!" The Keeper was flattered. She hadn't celebrated her birthday in forever. "That sounds great! It's been a while since I've had a birthday. When's yours?" He answered, "November 21. It's nice. Cool, but not too cool. Not to the point of cold."

"Ok, so my turn. Are you a nighttime person, or a daytime person? Also, red or blue?" She noticed immediately: "Hey, you can't ask two questions," she whined playfully. He shot her a winning smile. "I just did." "Fine," she said, and answered the questions. "Definitely nighttime. Everything is more fun at night. Even just sitting on a couch and talking, is always more fun. There's usually more laughing involved. I love laughing. And red! Red is my favorite color. Red rocks. Just sayin'. Your opinions?"

"Well, I also happen to be a nighttime person. I totally agree, absolutely everything is more fun at night. I shun people who don't like laughing. It's good exercise! As for colors, blue. Blue is my favorite color. I've always loved blue. It reminds me of my real name. Keeper, what is your real name?" She was taken aback. "Doctor, you know I can't tell you. That's extremely dangerous." He sighed. "I know. I wish we could tell each other. Make me a promise though. Will you tell me someday? Please?" She thought on it, and she decided she liked this Doctor. He seemed very… raggedy. The Raggedy Doctor. Yes, she would tell him, someday. "Someday," she promised. "But you have to tell me yours." He didn't hesitate. "Someday, I will. Someday."


	6. Lucky Color

It had been about two weeks since their little stroll through Apalapucia. The Doctor and The Keeper had become much more acquainted with each other, and had been on quite a few adventures. However, she definitely wasn't expecting those particular words to stream from the Doctor's mouth. She was shocked and absolutely _beaming! _As she sat on her bed, in a yellow version of her floral dress, she thought back to the conversation they'd had only moments ago:

She had been standing in the console room, eating a banana, when the Doctor swept in from the inner bowels of the TARDIS. She thought she noticed a falter in his usual (and strangely endearing) over-confidence. "Do you need something?" she asked. He answered in a stutter. "W-well no. I-I'll just go now." She was confused. "No, really Doctor, what is it?"

He looked flustered. Like there was something in the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't get it out. He was wearing his purple bow tie. She liked that one. In fact, she had come to grips with the fact that she quite liked all of them. Finally, he said:

"I was just wondering if you would want to go on a real date? You know, with me?" he said awkwardly, before adding, "You probably don't want to though, that's fine." She was shocked… and ecstatic. Of course she would go. She liked the Doctor, a lot. He started to leave the room. "Wait – Doctor, of course I'll go! I wouldn't pass up that chance for the world. I like you, I really do," she said bravely. He seemed legitimately surprised. "Really? You like me?" he asked. "I like you, too." She was all warm inside now. "So when were you thinking?" she asked. He seemed excited now.

"I was thinking tonight. As in, right now." He shot her a mischievous smile. Now he had her grinning, too. She shifted her weight to one leg. "Shall I go change then?" she asked. "Yeah! I'm sure the TARDIS will give you a fine selection of dresses. Go on! Get dressed! This is going to be fun!" She smiled and walked back to her room to get dressed. When she was out of earshot, and he heard her close her door, he started his usual routine of jumping around the TARDIS and fiddling with levers and switches, until he remembered he needed to change, too. At this point he retreated to his room to decide what to wear.

He decided on his usual black suit and a white bowtie. He felt it suited him well. He wanted to look as nice as possible, because as much as he had tried to deny it, he did like The Keeper, and he liked her a lot.

The Keeper sat on her bed now, snapping out of her momentary flashback. She had a date to get ready for! She opened up her dresser. The Doctor had been right. It was now flooded with beautiful multicolored dresses. She stood pondering what color she should wear, until she finally decided on red. Red was her lucky color, and she really wanted this date to go well. She had accepted a long time ago that she had developed sentiment towards the Doctor. She pulled out a red dress that looked really nice with her skin tone, and put it on.

Oh yes, she liked this one. The dress had a sweetheart neckline and short sleeves that led into a low scoop back. It fit snugly around her waist, and went down to floor length. She checked the dresser again, and found a pair of simple black heels that would do perfectly. She decided to leave her dark, curly hair down; it looked best that way. Lastly, she did a quick smoky eye, and left to meet the Doctor in the console room.


	7. Allons-y

The Keeper sauntered nervously into the console room. She hoped red wasn't too bold for the first date. Then again, she was too bold for her own good. When she saw the Doctor, she smiled. He was sporting a tuxedo and, of course, a bow tie. He looked dashing. The sound of her heels clicking on the transparent floor shook her from her thoughts. The Doctor looked at her, stood up, and offered her his arm, which she took. "Shall we?" he prompted. She answered with a grin. "We shall," and with that they left the TARDIS, arm in arm, to wherever the Doctor had landed her while the Keeper was getting ready.

"So, Doctor, where exactly are we?" she asked curiously. He answered simply, "Surprise." "Ok," she tried again. "When are we?" He finally gave in. "1930's New York. We're going dancing, if you're okay with that." She was definitely okay with that. She had danced since she was a little girl. She gave him a smile, and said, "Allons-y!" He only looked at her, confused. "What did you just say?" he asked.

She had been asked that question many times. "Allons-y. It means-" Her sentence was cut off by the Doctor. "Let's go in French, I know. My past regeneration said that all the time. It was his battle cry. I miss allons-y. I would start saying it again, but it was his, not mine." He looked sad. "Well, you know who else's it is? Mine. You don't have to say it. I'll say it for you," she said, pleased by the warm, fuzzy feeling that came over her. He smiled down at her. "Thanks," he answered briefly, obviously enjoying her sentiment.

They reached the dance hall, and went in. The place was huge. It had a large crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. It was beautiful. The Doctor looked at her innocently. "Care to dance?" he asked. She laughed, and answered, "My pleasure." He took her hand and led her onto the massive dance floor, closer to the live music. She almost had to stop walking when she realized who she was looking at. He had said they were in 1930's New York, and here she was, once again standing in front of the spunky blonde from outside the Empire State building, from weeks ago, and this time she was singing!

"_My bad, bad angel, you put the devil in me!"_

She was famous! "Tallulah!" the Keeper said, and smiled. The Doctor looked confused, once again. "You know Tallulah? I didn't know you knew Tallulah!" he said, looking genuinely happy. "Yeah, I know Tallulah! She saved my life, once!" She frowned, thinking of whom she'd lost that day. "Only me, though," she said, before placing her hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "Shall we dance?" He rested a hand on her waist, and took her other hand in his. As they began to dance, he quickly realized she was a much better dancer than him.


	8. Truth or Dare

Much later that night, they both got bored of dancing and decided to head back to the TARDIS. "I had a lot of fun tonight," the Keeper said. "Yes," agreed the Doctor. "We should do it again sometime." She smiled at him. She agreed completely. He went back into is room to go change. He put his normal tweed jacket back on, and a red bowtie. He had learned long ago that her favorite color was red.

Meanwhile, the Keeper had gone to change as well. She wore the blue version of her floral print dress, with the black blazer and silver scarf. She put her hair up with a pair of chopsticks before going back out to the console room. She saw the Doctor had beaten her there. It was bedtime, but she wasn't tired at all.

"Doctor?" she began, and he looked up. "Are you actually tired? I mean, Time Lords don't actually need that much sleep. We should play a game. Yes, a game! How about a good old fashioned game of truth or dare?" she prompted. He stepped closer to her. "Ok, I'll go first," he said. "Truth or dare?"

She chose carefully. "Truth." The Doctor looked amused. "Good choice," he said as he obviously pretended to think of a question. "Before you met me, did you travel on your own? Did you ever have a companion… or whatever you want to call it?" She flinched. He could tell he'd struck a sore subject. She took a deep breath and said, "You'll want to sit down. Nobody likes standing while a story is being told."

Quickly and quietly, they moved to the TARDIS sitting room and sat down on the royal blue couch. The Keeper looked sad as she began to talk about all of her past companions, and he realized he had a connection with her in a deeper way than even he had realized. She recognized the pain that he went through every time he lost a companion. Every time somebody he loved abandoned him, or got stuck somewhere, or died. She finished with, "And that's another reason I wanted to find you. I knew you'd understand. You've been through it, and I needed somebody. You were the only person that could help." By this time, she was crying. He pulled her into a tight hug, like he would never let go. She straightened up and put on her clever face again. "My turn," she began. "Truth or dare?"

He smiled. "Dare." Typical Doctor. She wiped her eyes and looked at him playfully. "Are you sure? I've got a really good one." He didn't hesitate. "I'm sure," he confirmed. She laughed. "Ok then. I dare you to kiss a Time Lord that's in the room, but you have to find somebody who's name starts with a K and wears a blazer all the time." He gave her a shocked look. "It's a dare," she said. "You have to do it!" She was enjoying this way too much.

To his surprise, he couldn't contain it. He started laughing. He fell over laughing, and it wasn't long until she was cackling, too. They found themselves on the floor laughing, and he seized the opportunity. He sat up, before helping her up. With one hand he stabilized her neck, and rested the other on her waist. The kiss was slow and gentle, while perfectly rhythmic. Finally, he pulled away and took a breath.

Their lips crashed back together into a quicker, more passionate kiss. He placed both of his hands on her waist and pulled her impossibly close. She pulled away after quite a few seconds. "Well, that was fun," she said. "We should do that more often! Ok, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning!" She retreated to her bedroom, and slept soundly for the rest of the night.


End file.
